'Lyrical Gears I Got More Than Five'

Newham Generals were on Westwood's 1Xtra show on Sunday, but only had five minutes on mic thanks to Ghetto liberally slewing the show's host, in addition to Westwood talking incessant pie.

Still, it's the Newham Generals. D Double E didn't even turn up lean so 'Generally Speaking' might even be released on time.



Hopefully.

'Ready For The War Like A Soldier From The Iraqi...'

The Trim and Flow Dan clash is getting nasty, and things are complicated further since Killa P is now involved. He reached Rinse on Sunday with some straight mashman talk:

'I got too many machines bruv - you man just buss a likkle one raasclat rebore that I put on the road for you.'

I suppose it wouldn't be good for one's road credentials to be called 'Killa' and then be really nice and, arguably, Killa P was aware of this in the heat of the moment, further enforcing his identity by declaring himself 'a murderer'. Trim obviously wasn't bothered about spitting with a murderer seemingly out for him and still turned up at the station. However Trim couldn't evade Flow Dan's

'I'm the Flow Dan you can't come close, you're not a big man you're not even my big toe.'

With regard to sending season I think this counts as another one, since it is the first time Killa has really called for Trim/Trimski/Trimbale/Javan/Eric. So that is #7, and Wiley has a new dub for Fire Camp (#8).

It's sending season, but also promo season. There have been a few free downloads this year, and Devlin's EP is available for download here. Prez T's mixtape should be ready for download by early next week, so expect a review.

Finally big up Melanin, grime-scene-top-boy-camera-man. I think 'OG Season' is late because he keeps going round filming Logan sets. The footage is from the Logan set with Griminal and Little Nasty two weeks ago, so have a look.



Tracklisting:

WILEY // ROAD RASH
RUDE KID // BANDANNAS ON
DOT ROTTEN // WAR MISSION
MANIAC // WHAT THE RASS
SKEPTA // I'M THERE
FOOTSIE // 3 PLATES

'I'm Not Doing It Little I'm Big Not Small, In The War I Stand Up Tall'

I stopped watching Eastenders about five years ago. I don't really know why - whether I just grew out or whether I just couldn't take Little Mo getting whacked up anymore. Either way, there's no chance of going back now because there are other areas of East London that are doing more than a Grant Mitchell Vs Steve Owen Vs Dan Wicks three-way-no-holds-barred-cage-match.

Riko has been sending for Durrty Goodz, but I can't find the dub. Perhaps more prominenetly, Trim and Flow Dan have been having a tiff that has turned ugly. Trim had a track for him on his myspace called the Low Dan, where he claims he's in fact the Dan of flows. Trim has been sending for the Big Dargs for the last two weeeks on Rinse, targeting his canerow amongst other things. Early this week things really started to unravel, not unlike a soap-opera such as Eastenders:

Sunday evening - Trim and Wiley merking on Rinse, with Trim slewing Flow Dan like its nothing while Will stands there twiddling his thumbs.

Monday morning - Wiley posts on RWD Forum saying that Flow Dan can't have it, or something to that effect. Eskiboy promptly changes his myspace name to 'FLOWDAN YOU NEED TO UP THE LEVELS MATE'. A seeming betrayal, but it transpires that, in hindsight, that Flowdan was in studio preparing his fightback...

Monday afternoon - Flow Dan releases his talking dub, entitled 'Fack Arff'.

Monday night: Logan reveals a text from Trim saying he has replied. The dub cut deep, mentioning how Wiley wrote all of his bars. Trim also had time to bring Flow Dan's son into it, after trying to involve his cousin Killa P before. It's hard to tell how far is too far, but in the war you have to go all out.

The situation is intersting, and there is probably a bit more life in it. Rinse tomorrow, so maybe Flow Dan and Trim will both turn up. Along with the Riko send, I calculate this as sends #5 & #6 for the year so far.

I might have to start getting this down on paper from now on.

Frisco: Peng Food Review

Apologies for the lateness of this review - I've been intending to do this for time but I've just been too busy. However, there has been an advantage in not being able to review the CD straight away because I've been able to give it a bit more time, and I must admit the mixtape has grown on me.

The 'Peng Food' is being cooked up by various up-and-comers as well as more established artists, including Macksta, Clip Man, LayZ, Double S, Skitz Kid, Cookie, Chipmunk and Black The Ripper. That's not even all of them, so with that in mind it would have been very difficult for this to have been an exceptional CD - there's no room for an artist to develop his own ideas musically, and every MC has to be given an opportunity to touch mic and spray their 16.

The mixtape, despite being a project for Alwayz Recordings and featuring their upcoming talent, is mainly being distributed artistically under Frisco's name. This is fitting; Frisco leads from the front and shines, despite having to accomodate other artists. In fact, 'accomodate' is a bit harsh - there are certainly talented MCs on this CD that can hold their own. The Maniac-produced Raising Levels with Macksta is just one example, along with features from Chipmunk and Double S on the most publicised single, Skengman Mode. Yet Fris , and his solo-efforts on Ages Ago and Lyrical Skeng are two of the best tracks.

The beats are generally good, even though there are some older ones on there, such as the Maniac-produced Raising Levels and 4's, 8's and 16's. 'Peng Food' has some topboy producco on it, including productions by Wiley, Bless Beats, and Sem. There is also some experimentation on there as well, mostly in the song Rock n Barz which is actually a banger.

The CD is decent musically, but I was impressed with the way it has been put together as well. The artwork is good, and the case looked very presentable, especially in relation to other grime CDs. Its not as important as the music, but it can be easy to overlook this aspect in the overall package of an end-product, and it makes it seem more professional which can only be a good thing.

Generally I would say the CD is worth the money. There might not be any spectacular tunes, but with good songs including Rhymetime Recordings, Skengman Mode, Rock n Barz and more, there's more than enough here to enjoy. Go cop it.

'Kill Off Killy'!

Prez T is back. No lie - President T is seemingly back so, to all the doubters, back inna your face. Props to him for even returning - there was the possibility that not many would have recognised him and I suppose that the longer he wasn't around, the more likely he might not have made grime music again.

I hear rumours of 'Back Inna My Face' being released as a free download, which only confirms the fact that it's promo season right about now. I think it's good if he is putting it up for download, since his mixtape has become one of the grime's biggest charades.

However, that tag is diminishing given the excitement over Prez T finally releasing 'Back Inna My Face' and the saga nearly being over. The video to his new single, A Day in the Life of, is slick as well as being complemented by a very nice beat.

President T - A Day in the Life of Video




The timing of the video is especially hilarious since Ears is also back making music again. I'll come back to Ears's stuff but, for now, check his myspace.

'Go On Then Go On Then, Let's Get The Show On Then'

Alright, I've decided to make a rough count of the sends this year. I've just watched the Aftershock freestyle on Westwood, and Devilman just bopped to national radio and refixed Skepta's bars like it was nothing.

But still, 'make them come down, kidnap a man, put them in an old washing machine and spin them'.

I don't know what to think of Aftershock. I think in one sense they have done well for a crew that is mostly based outside London, and they have some good MCs such as Badness, Devilman, and Bruza, who is easily the most hilarious MC in the grime scene. The crew is like a seesaw, with good MCs and bad MCs and nothing in between.

On my count this is send #4 of 2008. I'm sure I've missed a few, but hey - it's a start.

'Don't Hype Or Something Unless You Want It To Get Silly'

Right - apologies for the recent air to the blogging sphere, but I've had a lot on my plate recently. Griminal passed through Logan's Kiss show last Monday; download the show from the grime wikipedia if you missed it.

Griminal talked about a few things, including his name:

'You know a criminal yeah? Why are they a criminal? Becasue they do crime. I'm Griminal because I do grime'.

Also, Griminal's mixtape will not be released for now, so make the most of the free promo.

Sending season 2008 is in good progress - I was planning to document events as they unfold this year but then I realised that there just isn't enough hours during the day. Wiley has five projects lined up this year but still has time to send for Lethal (again), Griminal has got some new bars for Jammer and Double O, and P.Money is after Ghetts.

That's potentially an epic clash in the making. Lord of the Mics 3?

Griminal - 'Its Not Just Bars' Promo

Download It's Not Just Bars here

Since the mixtape hasn't landed yet, Grimson has put up a promo on his myspace to keep the fans quiet. The promo is not bad, even if there is 30 minutes worth of radio rips on it. Then again the rips are good regardless and I didn't have to pay for any of this, so I'm more than happy.

Tunes such as 'Its Alot', 'Not Just Bars' and 'Dance' have been circulating on the radio waves, and the title-track 'Not Just Bars' is a personal favourite, with strong features throughout from Ghetto, Dot Rotten and Brutal.

Griminal displays what he does well here - he has attitude, hype and flow. But it's interesting that he's released this promo now. 'Not Just Bars' must be on the final mixtape since it's the title track, and 'It's Alot' and 'Dance' could well be too. The mixtape was supposed to drop last year, so that probably implies it should be avaiable soon. Griminal has a big fanbase, so hopefully he'll still shift a good number of copies, but I'm interested to see what happens with the situation.

'Boy Better Know We're O.G's'

How many times have I heard that in the past month? I haven't really been counting, but I doubt I have enough fingers.

Just a little video here - Skepta's braggadocio still seems in fine fettle.



Have a Happy New Year.